A growing international trade dispute is heading for a showdown. It involves a famous American brand and a pair of companies from South Korea. The focus of the disagreement: washing machines. HPR’s Bill Dorman has more in today’s Asia Minute.
When you think of washing machine brands, you might come up with Maytag, or Whirlpool, or Kenmore.
But if you’ve bought a washing machine within the last year or so, odds are better that it came from South Korea.
In fact, two of the top three best-selling washing machines in the United States are now made by Korean companies.
The research firm Stevenson Company says Samsung Electronics is now the top seller in the country, with nearly 20-percent of the market. LG Electronics is in third place—and Whirlpool is between the two—pushed into second place this year by Samsung.
Whirlpool says that’s because Samsung and LG are dumping their products—selling them for less than it costs to produce them. That would violate trade laws, and last week Whirlpool filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission—not for the first time.
In 2013, the U.S. government found in favor of Whirlpool, but the South Korean companies avoided penalties by switching production of their machines from South Korea and Mexico to lower-cost China.
Last year, Whirlpool complained again and the companies again shifted production—this time to Thailand and Vietnam.
LG says it’s not doing anything wrong, and Samsung is also expected to contest the allegations.
Whirlpool expects it will take until November for the International Trade Commission to sort the laundry and issue a decision.
